Method of specifying multifunctional subassemblies in a communication system

ABSTRACT

The circuit-oriented components of at least one function area of a communication system are combined on at least one area module. For a configuration of the communication system, a combination--determined by the central controller and stored in this controller--of a circuit technology identification and at least one function identification is transmitted to the respective area module and is stored there in the sense of a specification of the circuit-oriented and procedural functions of the area module. At least one program module allocated to the combination of a circuit technology identification and at least one function identification is transmitted to the respective area module, using the central controller, and is stored in this controller. One essential advantage of the inventive method is that the multiplicity of greatly varying modules is considerably reduced, and a considerable reduction of the economic outlay in the manufacture, testing and warehousing of modules for a communication system is thus achieved.

THIS APPLICATION IS A 371 OF PCT/DE96/01131 FILED ON JUN. 20, 1996.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field oftelecommunications, and, more particularly, the present inventionrelates to the use of process controlled modules in a communicationsystem.

2. Description of the Related Art

Communication systems, in particular private and public switchinginstallations, contain predominantly program-controlled modules that areconstructed in different ways with respect to circuitry and programming,depending on the configuration of the communication system and on thegreatly varying signalings and transmission methods used in thecommunication networks. A communication system with a module design ofthis type is known for example from the reference "ISDN in the office,HICOM", pp. 56 to 64 in particular, 1985, Siemens. Each of the modules,e.g. the signaling unit or the trunk modules, is hereby equipped with acontrol unit, i.e. a microprocessor, and the required circuit-orientedcomponents, such as e.g. subscriber terminal interfaces or interfacesfor the internal communication exchange exchange. These are respectivelyarranged on the modules. The greatly varying circuit-oriented andprogram-oriented realizations of the modules provided for this purposemean that a multiplicity of different modules must be provided for acommunication system, which increases further due to furthercircuit-oriented and program-oriented developments of the modules. Themultiplicity required is connected with an increased economic expenseor, respectively, with increased costs in manufacturing (greatly varyingequipment variants), in testing (a multiplicity of test programs) and inwarehousing (outlay of space and management) of the modules.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One underlying object of the present invention is to reduce the economicexpense caused by the multiplicity of modules.

Another aspect of the inventive method is that the circuit-oriented andprocedural functions of a functional area of a communication system,i.e. of an area with similar functions, are combined on one area module.For example, an area module represents a signaling module allocated tocentral control, on which module all circuit-oriented components arecombined that are required for the processing of all signalingprocedures provided in the communication system. The circuit-orientedand procedural functions that can be realized by the area modules--inrelation to the signaling module, the possible signalings and thevariants thereof--are specified, i.e. determined, by the combination ofa circuit technology identification and at least one functionidentification. In addition, at least one program module is allocated toeach of the combinations sic! of circuit technology identifications andfunction identifications. The program module is a computer program whichrealizes, the procedural function or, respectively, the proceduralfunctions of the function or, respectively, functions determined by thecombination of the identifications. In addition, by means of the atleast one program module circuit-oriented settings--e.g. switchingactive or inactive--of the circuit-oriented components can be effectedby correspondingly inserted items of information. The at least oneprogram module can be stored in the communication system itself (e.g.,hard disk, streamer CD-ROM), in a memory placed at the disposal of thecommunication system (e.g., CD-ROM), or in a service center in therespective communication network. This can respectively be transmittedfrom there to the area module, using the central control.

Given a configuration of the communication system, e.g. duringcommissioning or during this change of the configuration of thecommunication system, a combination--determined by the central controlunit--of a circuit technology identification and at least one functionalidentification is transmitted to the area module to be set up, and isstored in this module. By storing the combination of the twoidentifications, the respective area module is specified, i.e. thedesired circuit-oriented and procedural functions are unambiguouslyselected or, respectively, defined from all possible ones. Subsequently,using the central control unit of the communication system, theallocated at least one program module is transmitted to the respectivearea module and is stored there. One advantage of the inventive methodis that by means of the combination of the circuit-oriented componentsof at least one functional area on an area module and the functionselection or, respectively, specification of this area module by meansof a combination of a circuit technology identification and at least onefunction identification, the multiplicity of greatly varying modules isconsiderably reduced, and a considerable reduction of the economicoutlay in the manufacture, testing and warehousing of modules for acommunication system is achieved. A further advantage of the inventivemethod is that, for a change of the configuration of the communicationsystem, the circuit and procedural characteristics of an area module areachieved without having to exchange a module. This is done by areconfiguration of the area module by transmitting and storing amodified circuit technology identification and at least one functionidentification and the transmission of other program modules from thecentral control unit. In this manner, expensive measures forprocurement, warehousing and waste disposal are avoided.

After setting up the respective area module, this module is set intooperation using the central controller, and is included in thefunctional sequence of the communication system. Given the transmissionof several program modules, these are set into operation one after theother using the central controller, and are included in the functionalsequence.

In the central controller, the configuration of the respectivecommunication system is advantageously administrated in a configurationtable, whereby a predetermined combination of a circuit technologyidentification and at least one function identification is entered inthe configuration table for the area modules to be configured. Thecombination of a circuit technology identifier and at least one functionidentifier is determined by the respective network operator and isentered in the configuration table in a manner controlled by the userinterface. In the signaling area module indicated as an example, thecombination of the circuit technology identification and at least onefunction identification is determined by the signalings, or,respectively, signaling protocols, to be processed in the respectivecommunication system, and the occurrences thereof.

The circuit technology identification is advantageously represented byan item of area module type information that indicates the essentialfunction of the respective area module. For example, this may be thetype information "signaling area module." Alternatively, abbreviationsfor the respective items of type information are advantageous.

According to a further embodiment of the inventive method, the functionidentification is numeric information. This may designate functioninformation indicating the subfunctionality of the at least one programmodule to be loaded, and a program identification identifying the atleast one program module to be loaded. By means of this combination ofitems of information, an unambiguous allocation of an at least oneprogram module realizing the procedural functions is given to therespective area modules. The program identification is, for example,represented by the program name of the respective program module. Thefunction information is formed, for example, by an item of informationthat defines a signaling protocol, such as at the communication systemside or at the communication terminal apparatus side.

According to a further advantageous construction of the inventivemethod, the circuit technology identification and the at least onefunction identification in the area module is stored in a non-volatilememory that is electrically erasable and programmable. By this means, arestart-secure storing of the circuit technology identification and ofthe at least one function identification is achieved. For example, theydo not have to be reloaded given a restart caused by a hardware orsoftware error.

In addition, an item of type information indicating the type of the areamodule is stored in the non-volatile, electrically erasable andprogrammable memory. This item of information is for example stored inthe memory during the manufacture of an area module, and is read by thecentral control unit upon the setting up of a module, in the sense ofthe recognition of the type of the plugged-in area module.

Further advantageous constructions of the inventive method can belearned from the further claims.

In the following, the inventive method is explained in more detail onthe basis of a block switching diagram and a flow diagram.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block switching diagram wherein a communicationsystem provided which employs the inventive method, and

FIG. 2 illustrates, in a flow diagram of the setting up of an areamodule.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system KS in which a central controlunit ZST, as well as several installation locations E1 . . . n for areamodules BBG, are provided. Dependent on the provided configuration ofthe communication system KS, area modules BBG are plugged into theseinstallation locations E1 . . . n, which are equipped with pluggingmeans (not shown).

For the explanation of the inventive method, an area module BBG is shownin broken lines as an example at the first installation location E1.This area module, and further area modules BBG, are connected inparallel with the central control unit ZST via a system bus SB.Alternatively, individual connections with a serial transmission ofinformation are possible (not shown). The central controller ZST isformed by a microprocessor system MPS and a memory SP, whereby thememory SP can be an integral component of the microprocessor system. Letit be assumed for the exemplary embodiment that the area modules BBG canbe plugged in at arbitrary installation locations E1 . . . n.Alternatively, limitations in the allocation of installation locationsE1 . . . n to the various types of area modules BBG are possible. Forexample different types of area modules BBG must be plugged atdetermined installation locations.

Each area module BBG contains all the circuit-oriented components thatare required for the realization of a function area of a communicationsystem KS. The respective function area hereby preferably comprisessimilar functions, e.g. all the signaling functions. For the exemplaryembodiment, it is assumed for the sake of example that allcircuit-oriented components required for realization of all signalingspossible in the respective communication system KS are arranged on anarea module SIU. Possible signalings, are for example, are differentanalog or digital intermediate exchange signaling methods for differentcountries. In the exemplary embodiment, the circuit components are inparticular different constructions of the microprocessor systemsrequired for the realization of the respective signaling protocol. Inarea modules BBG, which are for example related to the subscriberterminal region (not shown), a great variety of circuit-orientedcomponents, in particular with respect to the different subscriberterminal technology or, respectively, subscriber transmissiontechnology, are combined on an area module BBG or, respectively, severalarea modules BBG (e.g., analog, digital).

Each of the area modules BBG contains, for its controlling or,respectively, for its operation, a peripheral controller PST, which ispreferably realized by a microprocessor system. This peripheralcontroller PST contains, besides the usual storage units (not shown), anon-volatile, electrically erasable and programmable memory FLASH, intowhich an item of type information tyi was programmed, for example duringthe manufacture of the area module BBG. By means of this typeinformation tyi, the type of the area module BBG is determined; inrelation to the exemplary embodiment, the type information is SIU forthe signaling area module SIU. If, for example, two signaling areamodules are provided, the type information tyi is determined for exampleby SIU1 and SIU2. Similarly, the type information tyi is to be formedfor, e.g., subscriber terminal area modules.

In the memory SP of the central controller, besides the programs BPprovided for the switching, operation and maintenance of thecommunication system KS, a configuration table KT is stored, in whichthe configuration of the communication system KS is determined. Thedetermination of the configuration of the communication system KS takesplace by means of the operator of a communication system KS, whereby theconfiguration table KT resulting from the determination is administeredby operating and maintenance inputs in the memory SP. For each areamodule BBG that is to be plugged into the communication system KS on thebasis of the determined configuration, the configuration table KTcontains a corresponding item of type information tyi. A circuittechnology identification and at least one function identificationHWI,FID1 . . . n is allocated to this item of type information tyi. Inrelation to the exemplary embodiment, the circuit technologyidentification HWI is for example determined by the item of area moduletype information siu2, whereby a circuit-oriented setting of an areamodule BBG is defined for example by means of the numeric item ofinformation. By means of the transmission of this circuit technologyidentification HWI to the allocated area module BBG, in this module thecircuit-oriented components provided for the realization of a determinedsignaling are switched active or, respectively, inactive, or the circuitcomponents present are set to predetermined modes of operation, e.g.coder and decoder.

The at least one function identification FID is respectively formed bynumeric item of information FID1,2, an function information 11,2indicating subfunctions, and by a program identification isdn1,2indicating the program module ISDN1,2 to be loaded. For the exemplaryembodiment, two function identifications FID1,2 are assumed. However,several function identifications FID (e.g., four) are possible. After atransmission of the function identifications FID1,2 to the respectivearea module BBG, the respective area module BBG is unambiguouslyspecified or, respectively, defined--together with the circuittechnology identification HWI--with respect to its circuit-orientedsettings and the functions to be realized. Subsequently, the programmodules ISDN1,2 that are indicated in the function identificationsFID1,2 and stored in the memory SP of the central control unit ZST aretransmitted to the respective area module BBG, and--together with thecircuit technology identification and the at least one functionidentification HWI,FID1,2--are stored in the non-volatile, electricallyerasable and programmable memory FLASH. The sequence with respect to thetransmission and storing of the circuit technology identification and ofthe at least one function identification HWI,FID1,2, as well as of theprogram modules ISDN1,2, is shown in FIG. 2 in the self-explanatory flowdiagram. In the flow diagram, a first commissioning identifier ek isindicated to distinguish a first commissioning or a modification of thearea modules or, respectively, of the communication system. This firstcommissioning identifier ek is for example formed using the centralcontroller ZST, and is entered in the configuration table KT uponcommissioning. After the first commissioning, the identifier ek iserased.

The non-volatile, electrically erasable and programmable memory FLASH onthe area modules BBG can alternatively be replaced by an EPROM for thestoring of the item of type information tyi and by a ROM for storing theprogram modules IDSN1,2, whereby however a new loading of the programmodules ISDN1,2 is required according to the inventive method upon eachrestart of the communication system KS or of the respective area moduleBBG.

The inventive method is advantageously also used together with the knownmodules, i.e. in mixed operation. However, for the circuit technologyidentification HWI, an item of area module type information siu ishereby to be used, as was also previously used for the identification ofthe modules, and only one numeric item of information 0 is allocated tothe function identification FID. By means of the numeric item ofinformation 0 it is indicated that no area module BBG is present. Theselection and loading of the program modules is carried outcorresponding to the known methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for specifying functions ofprocessor-controlled modules of a communication system in acommunication network, said system being equipped with a central controlunit, the method comprising:combining circuit-oriented components of atleast one function area on at least one area module; specifying possiblecircuit-oriented and procedural functions of an area module by acombination of a circuit technology identification and at least onefunction identification; allocating at least one program module to eachcombination of a circuit technology identification and at least onefunction identification and storing the module in the communicationnetwork; transmitting a combination of a circuit technologyidentification and at least one function identification to therespective area module and storing it as a specification of thefunctions of the area module; transmitting at least one allocatedprogram module to the respective area module using the centralcontroller, and storing program module in this controller.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising:after the transmission of theat least one program module to the respective area module, setting thisarea module into operation with the central controller, and including itin the functional sequence of the communication system.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the central control unit has aconfiguration table having a circuit technology identification and atleast one function identification for the configured area modules.
 4. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein the circuit technologyidentification is represented by area module type information thatindicates functions in the communication system.
 5. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein the function identifications are comprisedof:numeric information and function information indicating thesubfunctionality of the at least one program module to be loaded; and aprogram identification identifying the at least one program module to beloaded.
 6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:storing thecircuit technology identification and the at least one functionidentification in the area module in a non-volatile, electricallyerasable and programmable memory.
 7. A method according to claim 1,further comprising storing type information indicating the type of thearea module in an area module in a non-volatile, electrically erasableand programmable memory.
 8. A method according claim 1, wherein aconfiguration of the communication system represents a firstcommissioning of an area module or a modification of the configurationof the communication system, whereby the first commissioning of an areamodule is indicated by means of a first commissioning identifier, usingthe central controller.